Method of manufacturing a multilayer substrate structure for fine line

ABSTRACT

A method of manufacturing a multilayer substrate structure includes the steps of pre-treatment, pressing and post-treatment. A carrier plate provided with a circuit pattern layer is pressed against a plastic sheet. An interlayer connection pad is formed by drilling and filling the lower surface of the plastic sheet. The carrier plate, the plastic sheet, another plastic sheet and another carrier plate with a circuit pattern layer are pressed together, and then drilled/filled to form a multilayer stacked structure such that the two circuit pattern layers are indirectly and electrically connected to the interlayer connection pad, respectively. Therefore, it is possible to overcome the problem due to alignment tolerance by using the interlayer connection pad wider than alignment tolerance, and stacking the circuit layers, each having much finer line and smaller pitch.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to a method of manufacturing amultilayer substrate structure, and more specifically to a method ofmanufacturing a multilayer substrate structure for fine line by formingan interlayer connection pad after the process of drilling and fillingso as to overcome alignment tolerance and improve the yield rate ofproducts.

2. The Prior Arts

FIGS. 1A to 1D schematically and respectively illustrate the successivesteps of manufacturing a multilayer substrate structure in the priorarts. As shown in FIG. 1A, a substrate 10 is provided with two seedlayers 20 on the upper and lower surfaces by electroplating,respectively, and two patterned photo resist layers 200 are then formedon the two seed layers 20, respectively. Next in FIG. 1B, a firstcircuit pattern layer 30 and a second circuit pattern layer 32 areformed at the openings of the surfaces of the two patterned photo resistlayers 200, respectively. The first circuit pattern layer 30 includes afirst circuit pattern 31 and a first connection pad 33, and similarlythe second circuit pattern layer 32 includes a second circuit pattern 37and a second connection pad 39. The second connection pad 39 has a shapeof a ring with a central region 40. In FIG. 1C, the patterned photoresist layers 200 and the seed layers 20 are removed, and an opening 100is formed by drilling the central region 40 of the second connection pad39. Specifically, the opening 100 stops at the first connection pad 33.Further referring to FIG. 1D, the opening 100 and the central region 40are filled with metal by electroplating such that the first circuitpattern 31 is electrically connected to the second circuit pattern layer32. Finally, a first solder mask 51 and a second solder mask 53 areformed on the upper surfaces of the first circuit pattern layer 30 andthe second circuit pattern layer 32, respectively. The first solder mask51 covers most of the first circuit pattern 31 and part of the firstconnection pad 33, and the second solder mask 53 covers most of thesecond circuit pattern 37 and part of the second connection pad 39. Oneshortcoming of the above example in the prior arts is that the seedlayers 20 are located on the first circuit pattern 31 and the secondcircuit pattern layer 32, and the seed layers 20 are removed by etching.As a result, part of the first circuit pattern 31 and the second circuitpattern layer 32 are possibly removed at the same time, and it is thusneeded to increase the width of the first circuit pattern 31 and secondcircuit pattern layer 32 with specific width for circuit compensation.Traditionally, the thickness of the seed layers 20 is about 1 to 2 μm,and the typical width and pitch for the present technology are about 10μm such that the loss due to etching is up to 20 to 40%, resulting inchallenging bottleneck in technology.

For another example in the prior arts, FIGS. 2A to 2D respectivelyillustrate the steps of manufacturing the multilayer substratestructure. The present example is intended to improve the circuitcompensation for etching in the first example so as to implement muchfiner line and achieve much denser circuitry. As shown in FIG. 2A, twosteel plates 500 and a plastic sheet 12 are prepared. Each steel plate500 is provided with a seed layer 20 by electroplating, and a firstcircuit pattern layer 30 and a second circuit pattern layer 32 areformed by the image transfer process, respectively. Then in FIG. 2B, thetwo steel plates 500 and the plastic sheet 12 are pressed together so asto embed the first circuit pattern layer 30 and the second circuitpattern layer 32 into the plastic sheet 12. The two steel plates 500 andthe seed layers 20 are removed. The steps shown in FIGS. 2C and 2D aresimilar to the first example. A first opening 100 is formed by drilling,and then filled with metal by electroplating to form a first solder mask51 and a second solder mask 53. The seed layers 20 are located on theupper and lower surfaces after removing the steel plates 500 such thatthe first circuit pattern layer 30 and the second circuit pattern layer32 are not affected during the step of removing. Therefore, it is noneed to design larger width for circuit compensation.

However, the actual situation is possibly like what FIGS. 2B′ and 2C′show. Because of certain tolerance of the machine used in the step ofpressing, typically about 40 to 100 μm, the position of the circuitwhile pressed is possibly what FIG. 2B′ shows. That is, the firstcircuit pattern layer 30 and the second circuit pattern layer 32obviously deviate from the preset position. Therefore, it is possible topenetrate the plastic sheet 12 while drilling by laser, if the firstconnection pad 33 and the second connection pad 39 are offset too much.Owing to the alignment tolerance larger than the width, it needs amethod of manufacturing a multilayer substrate structure without circuitcompensation so as to overcome the drawbacks in the prior arts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a method ofmanufacturing a multilayer substrate structure for fine line, whichincludes the steps of pre-treatment, pressing and post-treatment. Thestep of pre-treatment includes the steps of first preparation, firstpressing, first drilling and first filling.

In the step of first preparation, a first plastic sheet and a firstcarrier plate with a first circuit pattern layer are prepared, and thefirst circuit pattern layer includes a first circuit pattern and a firstconnection pad.

In the step of first pressing, the first carrier plate is pressedagainst the first plastic sheet, and the first circuit pattern layer isembedded into the upper surface of the first plastic sheet. In the stepof first drilling, the lower surface of the first plastic sheet withrespect to the first connection pad is drilled to form a first opening.In the step of first filling, the first opening is filled with anelectrically conductive material to form a first connection plug, aninterlayer connection pad is made from the electrically conductivematerial on the lower surface of the first plastic sheet, and theinterlayer connection pad is connected to the first connection plug.Thus, a first stacked structure is formed after the step ofpre-treatment.

The step of pressing is to press the first stacked structure, a secondplastic sheet and a second carrier plate with a second circuit patternlayer such that the lower surface of the first plastic sheet isconnected to the upper surface of the second plastic sheet, and thesecond circuit pattern layer is embedded into the lower surface of thesecond plastic sheet. The interlayer connection pad is covered by theupper surface of the second plastic sheet, and the second circuitpattern layer includes a second circuit pattern and a second connectionpad. The second connection pad has a shape of a ring with a centralregion.

The step of post-treatment includes the steps of removing, seconddrilling and second filling. The first and second carrier plates areremoved in the step of removing so as to expose the first and secondcircuit pattern layers to the upper surface of the first plastic sheetand the lower surface of the second plastic sheet, respectively. Thelower surface of the second plastic sheet is drilled with respect to thesecond connection pad to form at least one second opening in the step ofsecond drilling. The second opening stops at the interlayer connectionpad. In the step of second filling, the second opening is filled withthe electrically conductive material to form a second connection plug,which is connected to the interlayer connection pad. A core stackedstructure is thus formed.

Furthermore, it is possible to stack other plastic sheets, interlayerconnection pads and circuit pattern layer onto the core stackedstructure in that way, so as to form a final stacked structure with morestacked layers. Finally, solder masks are formed on the upper and lowersurfaces of the final stacked structure to achieve the process ofpackage.

According to one feature of the present invention, the interlayerconnection pad is provided between the circuit pattern layers such thatthe circuit pattern layers are electrically connected via the interlayerconnection pad. That is, the present invention implements indirectconnection for the circuit pattern layers. Particularly, the width ofthe interlayer connection pad is intentionally larger than alignmenttolerance, thereby overcoming the problem due to alignment tolerance.The final stacked structure includes the circuits with much finer lineand smaller pitch.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention can be understood in more detail by reading thesubsequent detailed description in conjunction with the examples andreferences made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGS. 1A to 1D respectively are cross sectional views illustrating thesteps of manufacturing the multilayer substrate structure in the priorarts;

FIGS. 2A to 2D respectively are cross sectional views illustrating thesteps of manufacturing the multilayer substrate structure in anotherexample of the prior arts;

FIGS. 2B′ to 2C′ respectively are cross sectional views showing theactual situation in the prior arts;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram showing the method of manufacturing amultilayer substrate structure for fine line according to the presentinvention;

FIGS. 4A and 4B respectively are detailed flow diagrams showing thepre-treatment and post-treatment steps;

FIGS. 5A to 5I respectively are cross sectional views illustrating themethod of manufacturing the multilayer substrate structure according tothe present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram showing the step of preparation according tothe present invention; and

FIGS. 7A to 7E respectively are cross sectional views illustrating thestep of manufacturing the stacked multilayer according to the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention may be embodied in various forms and the detailsof the preferred embodiments of the present invention will be describedin the subsequent content with reference to the accompanying drawings.The drawings (not to scale) show and depict only the preferredembodiments of the invention and shall not be considered as limitationsto the scope of the present invention. Modifications of the shape of thepresent invention shall too be considered to be within the spirit of thepresent invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, a flow diagram showing the method of manufacturingthe multilayer substrate structure for fine line according to thepresent invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the method of the present invention includes thesteps of pre-treatment S10, pressing S20, post-treatment S30 and formingsolder mask S40. FIGS. 4A and 4B are detailed flow diagrams showing thesteps of pre-treatment S10 and post-treatment S30, respectively. FIGS.5A to 5I respectively show the cross sectional views for each step inthe method of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4A, the pre-treatment step S10 includes the steps offirst preparation S11, first pressing S13, first drilling S15 and firstfilling. For the step of first preparation S11, it is shown in FIG. 5Athat a first plastic sheet 14 and a first carrier plate 510 with a firstcircuit pattern layer 30 are prepared. An electroplated seed layer 20 isformed between the first circuit pattern layer 30 and the first carrierplate 510. The first circuit pattern layer 30 includes a first circuitpattern 31 and a first connection pad 33. In FIG. 5B, the step of firstpressing S13 is to press the first carrier plate 510 against the firstplastic sheet 14 such that the first circuit pattern layer 30 isembedded into the upper surface of the first plastic sheet 14. Next, itis shown in FIG. 5C that the step of first drilling S15 is to drill afirst opening 110 in the lower surface of the first plastic sheet 14 toalign with the first connection pad 33. The first opening 110 stops atthe first connection pad 33. In the step of first filling S17, the firstopening 110 is filled with an electrically conductive material byelectroplating or non-electroplating to form a first connection plug 35as shown in FIG. 5D. At the same time, an interlayer connection pad 41is formed on the lower surface of the first plastic sheet 14, which isconnected to the first connection plug 35, and a first stacked structure70 is thus formed. The width of the interlayer connection pad 41 is 40to 100 μm.

As shown in FIG. 5E, the step of pressing S20 is to press the firststacked structure 70, a second plastic sheet 16 and the second carrierplate 520 with a second circuit pattern layer 32 such that the lowersurface of the first plastic sheet 14 is connected to the upper surfaceof the second plastic sheet 16. Additionally, the second circuit patternlayer 32 is embedded into the lower surface of the second plastic sheet16 such that the interlayer connection pad 41 is embedded into the uppersurface of the second plastic sheet 16. The electroplated seed layer 20is formed between the second circuit pattern layer 32 and the secondcarrier plate 520. The second circuit pattern layer 32 includes a secondcircuit pattern 37 and at least one second connection pad 39. The secondconnection pad has a shape of a ring with a central region 40.

The step of post-treatment S30 includes the steps of removing S31,second drilling S33 and second filling S35. As shown in FIG. 5F, thestep of removing is to remove the first carrier plate 510, the secondcarrier plate 520 and the electroplated seed layer 20 so as to exposethe first circuit pattern layer 30 and the second circuit pattern layer32 to the upper surface of the first plastic sheet 14 and the lowersurface of the second plastic sheet 16, respectively. For the step ofsecond drilling S33, it is clearly shown in FIG. 5G to drill the secondopenings 120 in the lower surface of the second plastic sheet 16 suchthat the second opening is in alignment with the central region 40 ofthe second connection pad 39 so that the second opening 120 stops at theinterlayer connection pad 41. Next, as shown in FIG. 5H, the step ofsecond filling S35 is to fill the second openings 120 with theelectrically conductive material by electroplating or non-electroplatingto form the second connection plugs 43. Thus, the core stacked structure75 is formed. Specifically, the second connection plug 43 is connectedto the interlayer connection pad 41 such that the first circuit patternlayer 30 and the second circuit pattern layer 32 are electricallyconnected via the first connection plug 35.

Finally, the step of solder mask S40 is shown in FIG. 5I to form thefirst solder mask 51 and the second solder mask 53 on the upper andlower surfaces of the core stacked structure 75, respectively. The firstsolder mask 51 is provided on the upper surface of the first plasticsheet 14 and covers the first circuit pattern layer 31 and part of thefirst connection pad 33. Similarly, the second solder mask 53 isprovided on the lower surface of the second plastic sheet 16 and coversthe second circuit pattern layer 37 and part of the second connectionpad 39.

Furthermore, referring again to FIG. 3, the method of the presentinvention may include a step of multilayer stacking S50 before the stepof solder mask S40. As shown in FIG. 6, the step of multilayer stackingS50 includes the steps of third pressing S51, third preparation S53,fourth pressing S55, third removing S57, and post-laminating processS59. For more detailed description of the step of multilayer stackingS50, please refer to FIGS. 7A to 7E which illustrate the correspondingcross sections.

In FIG. 7A, the step of third pressing S51 is to press a third plasticsheet 13 and a fourth plastic sheet 15 on the top and the bottom of thecore stacked structure 75 shown in FIG. 5H, respectively. As shown inFIGS. 7B and 7C, the step of third preparation S53 is forming thirdconnection plugs 42 in the third plastic sheet 13 and forming fourthconnection plugs 44 in the fourth plastic sheet 15 by using drilling andfilling as the pre-treatment step S10. The third connection plugs 42 andthe fourth connection plugs 44 connect to the first connection pads 33and the second connection pad 39, respectively. Then, forming secondinterlayer connection pads 46 corresponding to the third connectionplugs 42 on the upper surface of the third plastic sheet 13 and formingthird interlayer connection pads 48 corresponding to the fourthconnection plugs 44 on the lower surface of the fourth plastic sheet 15to form a pre-laminating structure 77 as shown in FIG. 7B by plating theconductive material. The width of the second interlayer connection pads46 and the third interlayer connection pads 48 is 40˜100 μm.

The step of third preparation S53 is to form a second stacked structure72 and a third stacked structure 74 by using the similar step of firstpreparation S11. The second stacked structure 72 includes a thirdcarrier plate 530, a third circuit pattern layer 80 formed on the lowersurface of the of the third carrier plate 530, an electroplated seedlayer 20 formed between the third carrier plate 530 and the thirdcircuit pattern layer 80, and a fifth plastic sheet 17. The thirdcircuit pattern layer 80 includes the third circuit pattern 81 and thethird connection pad 83 in form of a ring, and is embedded into theupper surface of the fifth plastic sheet 17. The third stacked structure74 includes a fourth carrier plate 540, a fourth circuit pattern layer90 formed on the upper surface of the of the fourth carrier plate 540,an electroplated seed layer 20 formed between the fourth carrier plate540 and the fourth circuit pattern layer 90, and a sixth plastic sheet19. The third circuit pattern layer 80 includes the fourth circuitpattern 91 and the fourth connection pad 93 in form of a ring, and isembedded into the lower surface of the sixth plastic sheet 19.

The step of fourth pressing S55 is to press the second stacked structure72 and the third stacked structure 74 against the upper and lowersurfaces of pre-laminating structure 77, respectively. That is, thesecond stacked structure 72, the pre-laminating structure 77 and thethird stacked structure 74 are stacked from top to bottom. The step ofthird removing S55 is to remove the third carrier plate 530, the fourthcarrier plate 540 and the electroplated seed layers 20 such that thethird circuit pattern layer 80 and the fourth circuit pattern layer 90are exposed to the upper surface of the fifth plastic sheet 17 and thelower surface of the sixth plastic sheet 19, respectively. As shown inFIG. 7D, the step of post-laminating process S59 is forming fifth andsixth openings at the center of the third connection pads 83 and thefourth connection pads 93, respectively. Then, forming fifth connectionplugs 85 and sixth connection plugs 95 which are connected to the secondinterlayer connection pads 46 and the third interlayer connection pads48, respectively, by plating the conductive material. Moreover, the stepof post-laminating process S59 further includes forming a solder mask 51and a second solder mask 53. As shown in FIG. 7E, the solder mask 51 isformed on the upper surface of the fifth plastic sheet 17, and coversthe third circuit patter layer 81 and part of the third connection pad83. Similarly, the second solder mask 53 is formed on the lower surfaceof the sixth plastic sheet 19, and covers the fourth circuit patterlayer 91 and part of the fourth connection pad 93.

In the present invention the first carrier plate 510, the second carrierplate 520, the third carrier plate 530 and the fourth carrier plate 540are made from metal material, such as stainless steel or aluminum.Especially, the surface is smooth and has a roughness defined by Ra<0.35μm and Rz<3 μm.

One feature of the present invention is that one interlayer connectionpad is provided between two circuit pattern layers so as to form thespecific stacked structure with indirect connection, wherein eachcircuit pattern layer is connected to the corresponding interlayerconnection pad via the corresponding connection pad, and the width ofthe interlayer connection pad is smaller than alignment tolerance,thereby overcoming the problem due to alignment tolerance andimplementing the final multilayer structure by stacking the circuitswith much finer line and smaller pitch.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to thepreferred embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is notlimited to the details described thereof. Various substitutions andmodifications have been suggested in the foregoing description, andothers will occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, allsuch substitutions and modifications are intended to be embraced withinthe scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of manufacturing a multilayer substratestructure for fine line, comprising: a pre-treatment step consisting ofa first preparation step, a first pressing step, a first drilling stepand a first filling step, wherein the first preparation step consistingof preparing a first plastic sheet and a first carrier plate providedwith a first circuit pattern layer, wherein the first circuit patternlayer includes a first circuit pattern and at least one first connectionpad; the first pressing step consisting of pressing the first carrierplate against the first plastic sheet to embed the first circuit patternlayer into an upper surface of the first plastic sheet; the firstdrilling step consisting of forming at least one first opening on alower surface of the first plastic sheet in alignment with the firstconnection pad; and the first filling step consisting of filling thefirst opening with an electrically conductive material to form at leastone first connection plug, wherein the first connection plug isconnected to the first connection pad, at least one interlayerconnection pad is provided on the lower surface of the first plasticsheet and is made from the electrically conductive material, and theinterlayer connection pad is connected to the first connection plug soas to form a first stacked structure; a pressing step consisting ofpressing the first stacked structure against a second plastic sheet anda second carrier plate provided with a second circuit pattern layer suchthat the lower surface of the first plastic sheet is connected to anupper surface of the second plastic sheet, the second circuit patternlayer is embedded into a lower surface of the second plastic sheet, andthe interlayer connection pad is embedded into the upper surface of thesecond plastic sheet, wherein the second circuit pattern layer includesa second circuit pattern and at least one second connection pad, thesecond connection pad having a shape of a ring with a central region;and a post-treatment step consisting of a removing step, a seconddrilling step and a second filling step, the removing step consistingremoving the first and second carrier plates such that the first andsecond circuit pattern layers are exposed to the upper surface of thefirst plastic sheet and the lower surface of the second plastic sheet,respectively; the second drilling step consisting of drilling the lowersurface of the second plastic sheet to form one second opening inalignment with the central region of the second connection pad to stopat the interlayer connection pad; and the second filling step consistingof filling the second opening with the electrically conductive materialto form a second connection plug, wherein the second connection plug isconnected to the interlayer connection pad so as to form a core stackedstructure, wherein the interlayer connection pad has a width of 40 to100 μm.
 2. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: a thirdpressing step to press a third plastic sheet and a fourth plastic sheeton the top and the bottom of the core stacked structure; a thirdpreparation step is to form third connection plugs in the third plasticsheet and fourth connection plugs in the fourth plastic sheet by usingdrilling and filling, then to form second interlayer connection padscorresponding to the third connection plugs on the upper surface of thethird plastic sheet, and to form third interlayer connection padscorresponding to the fourth connection plugs on the lower surface of thefourth plastic sheet, such that a pre-laminating structure is formed,wherein the third connection plugs and the fourth connection plugs areconnecting to the first connection pads and the second connection pads,respectively, and to form a second stacked structure and a third stackedstructure as the first preparation step, wherein the second stackedstructure includes a third carrier plate, a third circuit pattern layerformed on the lower surface of the third carrier plate, and a fifthplastic sheet; the third circuit pattern layer includes a third circuitpattern and a third connection pad in form of a ring, and is embeddedinto the upper surface of the fifth plastic sheet, and the third stackedstructure includes a fourth carrier plate, a fourth circuit patternlayer formed on the upper surface of the fourth carrier plate, and asixth plastic sheet, the fourth circuit pattern layer includes a fourthcircuit pattern and a fourth connection pad in form of a ring, and isembedded into the lower surface of the sixth plastic sheet; a fourthpressing step is to press the second stacked structure and the thirdstacked structure against the upper and lower surfaces of pre-laminatingstructure, respectively; a third removing step is to remove the thirdcarrier plate, the fourth carrier plate such that the third circuitpattern layer and the fourth circuit pattern layer are exposed to theupper surface of the fifth plastic sheet and the lower surface of thesixth plastic sheet, respectively, and a post-laminating process step isto form fifth and sixth openings at the center of the third connectionpads and the fourth connection pads, respectively, then to form fifthconnection plugs and sixth connection plugs which are connected to thesecond interlayer connection pads and the third interlayer connectionpads, respectively, by plating the conductive material, wherein thewidth of the second interlayer connection pads and the third interlayerconnection pads is 40˜100 μm.
 3. The method as claimed in claim 2,wherein an electroplated seed layer is formed between the third carrierplate and the third circuit pattern layer, and between the fourthcarrier plate and the fourth circuit pattern layer, and theelectroplated seed layers are removed in the third removing step.
 4. Themethod as claimed in claim 2, wherein post-laminating process stepfurther comprising a step of forming solder mask, wherein a first soldermask and a second solder mask are formed on the upper surface of thefifth plastic sheet and the lower surface of the sixth plastic sheet,respectively, the first solder mask covers the third circuit patternlayer and part of the third connection pad, and the second solder maskcovers the fourth circuit pattern layer and part of the fourthconnection pad.
 5. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein each of thefirst, second, third and fourth carrier plates is selected from a groupconsisting of stainless steel and aluminum with surface roughnessdefined by Ra<0.35 μm and Rz<3 μm.
 6. The method as claimed in claim 1,further comprising a step of forming solder mask, wherein a first soldermask and a second solder mask are formed on the upper surface of thefirst plastic sheet and the lower surface of the second plastic sheet,respectively, the first solder mask covers the first circuit patternlayer and part of the at least one first connection pad, and the secondsolder mask covers the second circuit pattern layer and part of the atleast one second connection pad.
 7. The method as claimed in claim 1,wherein an electroplated seed layer is formed between the first circuitpattern layer and the first carrier plate, and another electroplatedseed layer between the second circuit pattern layer and the secondcarrier plate, and the electroplated seed layers are removed in the stepof removing.